A recent poll asking Mainers about gun control reminded us of how opinions vary widely and what it may take to have a level-headed conversation about gun safety and keeping guns out of some hands altogether.

The poll, conducted by Critical Insights of Portland, found a third of Mainers more likely to support stricter gun control laws as a result of the Sandy Hook shootings, while overall 79 percent of Mainers support some restrictions on owning guns.

A first blush, the polling results seem conflicted. Maine is a fiercely independent state where, according to the Portland Press Herald which commissioned the poll, gun ownership is up by 8 percentage points since a Gallup poll was taken in October, pre-Sandy Hook.

But a closer look at the poll suggests there is a constructive dialogue going on in Maine that could offer solutions to the gun control debate nationally.

Based on the poll results, those living in the more rural areas of the state are less inclined to support gun control measures and less inclined to support a broader array of controls compared to Mainers living in more urban regions.

The Herald notes that gun ownership is significantly higher in the northern (more rural) half of the state, with 68 percent of residents in Aroostook, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Somerset counties reporting they have a gun on their property, compared to 46 percent of those living in York and Cumberland counties.

In the north, 40 percent support a ban on semi-automatic weapons, notes the Herald, while 56 percent in the south support such a ban. In the north, 54 percent support a ban on high-capacity magazines, while 63 percent in the south support such a ban.

Those differences seem to indicate a comfort level among those who have, use and are exposed to guns on a regular basis and, we would argue, not linked to defending one’s self or property.

This notion was reflected in comments by Thom Watson, a former state lawmaker from Bath who serves on the board of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. Watson said self-loading rifles have a valid place in the hunting world and that many popular hunting rifles are semiautomatics. They’re easier to use and clean, he told the Herald, concluding that Maine hunters would be much more willing to give up high-capacity magazines, which are not useful for hunting.

This stands in sharp contrast to those who see semiautomatics as simply killing machines in the case of a home invasion or someone mentally ill storming into a school or movie theater.

We expect this sharp divide strikes at the essence of the challenge facing Vice President Joe Biden, who has been tasked by the president with making recommendations to curb gun violence. In addressing that challenge, we would urge Biden to look to the discussion taking place in Maine for a sense of balance.

Our takeaway from the Herald poll is that there is a middle ground on gun control that balances the way of life of responsible gun owners with the need to make gun ownership more difficult for the untrained, the mentally ill or for criminals.

In order to strike that balance, Biden and the president will have to concede that for many, gun ownership is a way of life, a family heritage passed down from one generation to the next. But Biden and the president are not the only ones who need to see two sides to the debate. The NRA does the discussion no good by ignoring the need to re-examine gun laws.

Just as the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech doesn’t give one the right to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, neither does the Second Amendment give unfettered rights to own and use a gun.